Numen Naturae Volume 3 Submissions

After a lot of consideration, I will be reopening the window for submissions for the third volume of Numen Naturae beginning January 1st and extending until March 1st. To facilitate the process of collaboration and content development, I am doing an experiment and welcoming participation. I've created a group for past and present Numen authors to connect, share ideas, get feedback, and co-create future volumes. If you are interested in participating you can request admission here.

Here is an excerpt from the letter to current group members:

Earlier this fall I issued a call for submissions for the third volume Numen Naturae which will cover Black Cohosh and the Priestess. Black Cohosh isn't terribly familiar to west coast herbalists, and I think that factor and the overlap of collecting submissions with releasing the second volume meant that not many people actually completed the submission process.

At first I was disappointed, but I actually think this is an interesting opportunity to shift the way that these books are created.

I would like to use this group as a way to dialogue about the themes and plants covered in each volume in an effort to co-create the books. Participating is not a requirement for submitting (one of my regular authors is elderly and unfamiliar with social media; I'm not going to insist that folks participate on Facebook in order to author for the project) but I think it could be beneficial.

When I issue a call for submissions and present my ideas and prompts, I often don't hear back from authors until they are presenting their final piece. As the editor, I get to see the ways that your pieces take shape and inform one another (without you even knowing!) during the editing phase, but none of the authors have the opportunity to contribute to that process collectively. I think that having a venue to discuss our ideas and points of interest and inspiration could create a more cohesive final text by influencing the creative process.

With love,Casandra

You can review the original prompts and guidelines for volume three here. to discuss questions, proposals, and submit final drafts, please email casandra @houseofhands.net.